Since mid-July, when Syrian government forces gained control of the only road leading to rebel-held areas of Aleppo, supplies have dwindled, with aid unable to reach the city’s isolated residents.
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Rebel fighters and their Jihadist allies launched an assault on Sunday in a bid to ease a more than two-week government siege of opposition-held districts of the city.
Russia is denying claims from Syrian rebels and human rights groups that it was behind a reported chlorine gas attack Tuesday in the same area where a Russian helicopter was shot down a day before, according to a Russian state media report.
The deaths include 65 people, among them 22 children, killed in rebel fire on government neighbourhoods, the Observatory said. In the view of the Associated Press, he even seemed to be taking some of the blame for the failure, pointing to offensive operations by not only the Assad government but also the Nusra Front, al-Qaida’s Syria affiliate, for preventing a truce from sticking.
Overnight, at least 10 civilians including four children were killed in rebel shelling of government-controlled districts on Aleppo’s southwestern edges, the Observatory said.
“We sent in one suicide bomber and there are several more also entering”, said the portly silver-haired fighter, standing in a makeshift tunnel.
Russian Federation had informed the U.S. about the rebel use of poisonous materials in Aleppo, reported SANA.
“Destroying hospitals is tantamount to signing thousands of death warrants for people now stranded in eastern Aleppo”, said Widney Brown, the group’s director of programmes.
The battle for Aleppo – Syria’s second city – is critical for both the regime in Damascus and the forces seeking to overthrow it.
People inspect the damage at the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)-backed al-Quds hospital after it was hit by airstrikes, in a rebel-held area of Syria’s Aleppo, April 28, 2016.
Earlier this week, Russian state television ran pictures of civilians and fighters reportedly leaving the city through humanitarian corridors announced by Moscow.
“You can not imagine how people are living inside Aleppo, they are under blockade, they are struggling without water or electricity”, Ahmad said.
Aleppo, Syria’s largest province and once a thriving economic metropolis, has witnessed intensified violent battles lately as the Syrian army advances against the rebels in the north.
But CNN sources on the ground and worldwide observers say the corridors do not appear to be in wide use, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry suggested last week that the corridor approach could potentially be a “ruse”.
A doctor from Idlib province told AFP on Wednesday that those affected had been treated and sent home.
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Aleppo, once Syria’s most populated city, now holds 300,000 people, including approximately 100,000 children.
